6/5/17

Today, we are excited to join Lauren Carr's Audiobook-a-palooza blog tour! To celebrate the release of Lauren Carr's mysteries in audiobook format, there are14 books from her three series on tour! Below you will find details on the 14 audiobooks--links to some previous reviews that we've written about her books (either in print or audio) and we are sharing a review of Old Loves Die Hard from the Mac Faraday Mystery series. We also have the honor of sharing a guest post from Lauren Carr herself as she discusses the write/promote dilemma that authors face! At the very bottom of this post--you will also find a $100 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway to enter!I received a complimentary ebook copy of one of the books listed below for use in this blog review. All opinions are my own.

In Old Loves Die Hard, Lauren Carr continues the rags-to-riches story of Mac Faraday, an underpaid homicide detective who inherits 270 million dollars and an estate on Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, from his birth mother on the day his divorce becomes final.

Mac is settling nicely into his new life at Spencer Manor when his ex-wife Christine shows up-and she wants him back! Before Mac can send her packing, Christine and her estranged lover are murdered in Mac's private penthouse suite at the Spencer Inn, the five-star resort built by his ancestors.

The investigation leads to the discovery of cases files for some of Mac's murder cases in the room of the man responsible for destroying his marriage. Why would his ex-wife's lover come to Spencer to dig into Mac's old cases?

With the help of his new friends on Deep Creek Lake, Mac must use all of his detective skills to clear his name and the Spencer Inn's reputation, before its five-stars - and more bodies - start dropping!

My Review

Listeners must pay close attention to the narration. Carr introduces (and re-introduces) several characters in her books--and many interrelated plot twists and subplots. All of which really do play a role in the story's resolution--but, may be a little complicated to follow in an audio format. I have read a number of her books and love her writing style--but, I had to re-listen to portions from time to time to keep the characters and the story line connected in my mind.

Old Loves Die Hard incorporates a large cast of characters into the story. As I mentioned, there are many characters in this story--and there are multiple crimes and interrelated segments for readers to navigate. Carr's stories are often complex--but, well formed--and this one is no exception. Readers and listeners will find a number of twists, suspense, and sarcastic/humorous character dialogue as they move through the book.

Would I recommend Old Loves Die Hard by Lauren Carr? I enjoyed the author's story and I did enjoy listening to the narration. The story is complicated and the large number of characters require that the listener focus on the narration to clearly stay on track with the story. I love the author's writing style. She tells very involved, very well crafted stories and manages to keep readers in suspense throughout most of the book--and toss in some added humor and sarcasm to help readers build those real-world connections toward the characters. (She does offer clues; however, so it's also not impossible to solve the mysteries along with her characters!) I also like the fact that; while the story involves multiple murders and crimes--it still remains clean enough for readers who prefer a story without the more mature themes and language. If you are an audiobook fan--and a mystery lover--you will probably love it as much as I did.

Answer: when that man is the heir of the late mystery writer Robin Spencer, retired homicide detective Mac Faraday, you get him a cold case to solve.

In Shades of Murder, Mac Faraday is once again the heir to an unbelievable fortune. This time the benefactor is a collector of stolen art. But this isn't just any stolen work of art - it's a masterpiece with a murder attached to it.

Ilysa Ramsay was in the midst of taking the art world by storm with her artistic genius. Hours after unveiling her latest masterpiece, she is found dead in her Deep Creek Lake studio, and her painting is nowhere to be found.

Almost a decade later, the long lost Ilysa Ramsay masterpiece has found its way into Mac Faraday's hands and he can't resist the urge to delve into the case.

A world away, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, former JAG lawyer Joshua Thornton agrees to do a favor for the last person he would ever expect - a convicted serial killer.

The favor: solve the one murder wrongly attributed to him.

Joshua finds an unexpected ally in Cameron Gates, a spunky detective who has reason to believe the young woman known to the media only as Jane Doe, victim number four, was the victim of a copycat. Together, Joshua and Cameron set out to light a flame under the cold case only to find that someone behind the scenes wants the case to remain cold, and is willing to kill to keep it that way.

Little do these detectives know that the paths of their respective cases are on a collision course when they follow the clues to bring them together in a showdown with a killer who's got a talent for murder!

In this fourth mystery on Deep Creek Lake, Mac Faraday finds himself up to his eyeballs in mobsters and federal agents.

After an attempted hit ends badly with two of his men dead, mobster Tommy Cruze arrives in Spencer, Maryland, to personally supervise the execution of the witness responsible for putting him behind bars - Archie Monday!

Mac Faraday believes he has his work cut out for him in protecting his lady love from one of the most dangerous leaders in organized crime; but when bodies start dropping in his lakeshore resort town, things may be hotter than even he can handle.

Spencer's police chief, David O'Callaghan, learns this lesson the hard way when he orders Mac Faraday to stay away from the south end of Spencer's mountaintop - even though he owns the property. It doesn't take long for Mac to find out what lies on the other side of the stone wall and locked gate, on which hangs a sign warning visitors to Keep Out!

Topping the list of the 10 top haunted places in America, Astaire Castle is associated with two suicides, three mysterious disappearances, and four murders since it was built almost a century ago - and Mac Faraday owns it!

In spite of David's warning, Mac can't resist unlocking the gate to see the castle that supposedly hasn't seen a living soul since his late mother had ordered it closed up after the double homicide and disappearance of Damian Wagner, a world-famous master of horror novels.

What starts out as a quick tour of a dusty old castle turns into another Mac Faraday adventure when Astaire Castle becomes the scene of even more murders. Mac is going to need to put all of his investigative talents to work to sort out this case that involves the strangest characters he has run into yet - including a wolf man. No, we're not talking about Gnarly.

My Review

I reviewed this audiobook last fall as part of a book tour. You may read that review HERE.

Fame comes at a price. Some pay with their privacy. Others pay with their pride. Khloe Everest paid with her life.

Determined to get her pretty face in front of the cameras, Khloe Everest fakes an abduction only to make a grand entrance in the midst of a press conference held by Spencer's Police Chief David O'Callaghan.

Three years later, after failing to catapult her notoriety into a long-lasting celebrity, Khloe Everest returns to Spencer upon her mother's sudden death and seemingly finds another weapon to propel herself into the spotlight. Unfortunately, someone kills her before she can make this entrance.

In Lauren Carr's sixth Mac Faraday Mystery, Mac and his friends come up against reality stars, politicians, has-beens, and wannabes. Mac also finds himself face-to-face with an old foe from his past who had managed to escape arrest during their last encounter. Now, Mac sees that his adversary has only become more powerful, and dangerous, with the passage of time.

Intent to not let this killer escape again, Mac and his friends need to put all of their talents together to put a stop to a cold-blooded lady killer.

Two people are brutally murdered in their summer place on Deep Creek Lake. Suspected of the murders, former child star and one-time teenybopper idol Lenny Frost takes innocent bystanders hostage in a local pub and demands that Mac Faraday find the killer. Can Mac save the hostages and himself from the wrath of the enraged has-been by piecing together the clues in less than twelve hours, or will it be a fatal last call at the stroke of midnight?

With three days left to the year, Deep Creek Lake is hopping with holiday vacationers and wedding guests pouring into the Spencer Inn for Mac Faraday and Archie Monday's huge wedding ceremony which is being touted as the social event of the year.

But droopy flowers and guests who failed to RSVP are the least of Mac's and Archie's problems when a professional hit squad hits Spencer Manor to send the groom, Joshua Thornton, Archie's mother, and Gnarly running for their lives.

With time running out before the big day, Mac Faraday and Spencer's small police force have to sort through the clues to figure out not only who has been targeted for assassination, but also who is determined to stop everything...forever!

Spring is in the air. In Deep Creek Lake, the burst of blossoms on the trees has the effect of a starting pistol in the race to get the resort area ready in time for the seasonal residents return to Spencer, Maryland.

This year, the Spencer Inn, Mac Faraday's five-star resort, has the added duty of preparing for the Diablo Ball, an annual benefit event that used to kick off Deep Creek Lake's summer season. The exclusive gala has drawn in A-listers from across the country, including suspects and witnesses connected to Ashton Piedmont, a young woman who had disappeared while skinny dipping in Deep Creek Lake five years earlier, days after the last Diablo Ball.

Intrigued by a mysterious phone call from a young woman claiming to be Ashton, retired homicide detective Mac Faraday can't resist diving head first into the cold case. But he's not the only one. Someone behind the scenes has gone to a lot of trouble to bring Ashton Piedmont's friends and enemies to the Diablo Ball, which promises to be a gala event to die for!

Police Chief David O'Callaghan and Chelsea Adams' wedding day is fast approaching. Unfortunately, at the last minute, David discovers that there is one small problem to be taken care of before he can walk down the aisle - divorce his first wife!

Lauren Carr takes fans of the Mac Faraday mysteries to the Big Apple in this nail-biting adventure. In Cancelled Vows, David, Mac, and Gnarly, too, rush to New York City to dissolve David's marriage to an old girlfriend - and he's got five days to get it done. When murder throws up a road block, it is up to David's best man, Mac Faraday, and Gnarly, K9-in-waiting, to sort through the clues to get David to the church in time!

Spunky Cameron Gates is tasked with solving the murder of Cherry Pickens, a legendary star of pornographic films, whose body turns up in an abandoned freezer. The case has a personal connection to her lover, Joshua Thornton, because the freezer was located in his cousin's basement. It doesn't take long for their investigation to reveal that the risqué star's roots were buried in their rural Ohio Valley community, something that Cherry had kept off her show business bio. She should have kept her hometown off her road map, too - because when this starlet came running home from the mob, it proved to be a fatal homecoming.

When Homicide Detective Cameron Gates befriends Dolly, the little old lady who lives across the street, she is warned not to get lured into helping the elderly woman by investigating the unsolved murder of one of her girls. "She's senile," Cameron is warned. "It's not a real murder."

Such is not the case. After Dolly is brutally murdered, Cameron discovers that the sweet blue-haired lady's "girl" was a call girl who had been killed in a mysterious double homicide.

Meanwhile, Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Thornton is looking for answers to the murder of a childhood friend, a sheriff deputy whose cruiser is found at the bottom of a lake. The deputy had disappeared almost 20 years ago while privately investigating the murder of a local prostitute.

It doesn't take long for the Lovers in Crime to put their cases together to reveal a long-kept secret that some believe is worth killing to keep undercover.

Joshua's eldest son, Joshua Thornton Jr. (J.J.) has graduated at the top of his class from law school and returns home to spend the summer studying for the bar exam. However, to Joshua's and Cameron's shock and dismay, J.J. moves into the main house at Russell Ridge Farm and Orchards, the largest dairy farm in the Ohio Valley, in order to rekindle a romance with Suellen Russell, the one-time leader of a rock band who is twice his age. Quickly, they learn that she has a deep dark secret.

The move brings long buried tensions between the father and son to the surface - not the least of which being J.J.'s inexplicable dislike for his stepmother Cameron. But when a brutal killer strikes, the Lovers in Crime must set all differences with Joshua's son aside to solve the crime before J.J. ends up in the cross-hairs of a murderer.

Five women with seemingly nothing in common are found brutally murdered in a townhome outside Washington, DC. Among the many questions surrounding the massacre is what had brought these apparent strangers together only to be killed.

Taking on his first official murder case, Lieutenant Murphy Thornton, USN, believes that if he can uncover the thread connecting the victims, then he can find their murderer.

Before long, the case takes an unexpected turn when Murphy discovers that one of the victims has a connection to his stepmother, Homicide Detective Cameron Gates. One wintry night, over a dozen years before, her first husband, a Pennsylvania State trooper, had been run down while working a night shift on the turnpike.

In this first installment of the Thorny Rose Mysteries, Lieutenant Murphy Thornton and Jessica Faraday sift through a web of lies and cover-ups. Together, can the detectives uncover the truth without falling victim to a cunning killer?

After 10 months of marital bliss, Jessica Faraday and Murphy Thornton are still discovering and adjusting to their life together. Settled in their new home, everything appears to be perfect...except in the middle of the night when, in the darkest shadows of her subconscious, a deep secret from Jessica's past creeps to the surface to make her strike out at Murphy.

When investigative journalist Dallas Walker tells the couple about her latest case, known as the Pine Bridge Massacre, they realize Jessica may have witnessed the murder of a family while visiting family at the winery near-by, and suppressed the memory.

Determined to uncover the truth and find justice for the murder victims, Jessica and Murphy return to the scene of the crime with Dallas Walker, a spunky bull-headed Texan. Can this family reunion bring closure for a community touched by tragedy or will this prickly get-together bring an end to the Thorny Rose couple?

All of Lauren Carr's books are rated PG-13 because they are murder mysteries and will contains murder scenes. Some of the books contain violence associated with military assignments. There are some books that contain sex scenes which are not explicit. There is little profanity, no f-words.

Meet the Author

Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose Mysteries—over twenty titles across three fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!

Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr’s seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, romance, and humor.

Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband and three dogs (including the real Gnarly’s klutzy nephew Sterling) on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.

“I don’t have time to promote my book. I’m too busy writing
the next one.”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this line from
authors. Usually they say it after
asking me why their books aren’t selling.

Don’t get me wrong! I know exactly where these writers are
coming from.

Years ago, after my first book A Small Case of Murder was released, I hired a publicist to help me
promote it. Six months after its release, I asked her about an advertising
opportunity that I had for A Small Case
of Murder, to which she replied, “I don’t think you should do anymore
promoting for this book. Concentrate on the next one.”

So I dropped all book promotion to write A Reunion to Die For. During the next
few years, while I focused on my next book, my sales for A Small Case of Murder dropped down to practically nothing and my
reading base evaporated.

When book number two came out, I was starting all over again
at ground one because any readers I had gained with the first book had
forgotten all about me. Take note:
Readers have a very short memory!

Numerous successful authors, myself included, will tell
writers to never stop writing. I write every day. The day after I send one book
off to the editor, I’ll start on the next book.

I alsopromote my books every day—even old
books that had been released over ten years ago.

Over the years, I have tracked my book sales enough to
notice a definite pattern in regards to book promotion:

ØMy book sales drop an average of 15% on days
that I don’t use Twitter (retweeting other authors’ posts and/or posting my own
tweets)

ØGenerally, most book sales will decline and then
level off four to six months after a book’s release.

ØSales for all of my books (my twentieth will
come out this fall) begin to drop steadily after I have completed a book
tour—even though I continue promoting the books through social media.

ØWhen I am on a virtual book tour, even though
the blog stops are to promote my latest release, sales on all of my books will
increase.

I’m the first one to admit that I enjoy writing far more
than I do book promotion. I’d much rather be curl up in a chair with my laptop
spinning my murder mysteries than writing guest blog post like this one.

But, I also love being able to live my dream of being a
successful writer—and doing book promotion in order to expand my reading
base—getting readers to buy my books—is what allows me to do that.

I reserve the mornings for doing my social media while I’m
waiting for the caffeine to kick in. After doing my social media, I conduct my
interviews and write guest blog posts when preparing for a tour—like this one.
Admittedly, there are some weeks where I have so many blog posts or interviews
to conduct, the I’ll have to set my current work-in-progress aside for a
week—sometimes even two. But I don’t consider those weeks wasted in any
way—because with every interview and guest posts, I am selling books, which
increases my reading base, which allows me to live my dream of being a
best-selling mystery author.

Generally, late afternoons, evenings, and the weekends are
reserved for writing my next mystery.

Book promotion is all part of the job of being a writer.

Yes, it is a job I love, but it is a job. Did I envision answering interview questions for bloggers and
writing guest blog posts back when I was a teenager dreaming of being a writer?
No! I dreamed of prancing around a penthouse in New York and sipping wine with
my quirky friends while relishing in being a published author.

Would I rather be sitting at my laptop writing a thrilling
shootout instead of retweeting Twitter posts for other authors’ books and
reading articles about the future of audio books? You betcha! But this business has to be taken care of so that
I have the luxury of making my living writing my books!

Successful writers have learned this valuable secret:

If you want to be a
writer, treat it like a job, not a hobby. With every profession, there are
necessary evils that must be learned and dealt with if you want to be a success
at what you love.

Doctors don’t spend all of their time treating patients.
They have to spend a good deal of time working with insurance and
pharmaceutical companies. They may not like it—but it is part of taking care of
business.

Yet—on the other side, (You’re
going to love this!) doctors don’t spend all of their time dealing with
insurance companies. They have a significant amount of time reserved for
treating patients.

Best-selling authors have the passion to succeed—making them
willing to make time for the less
than enjoyable tasks that encompass book promotion. They set aside “business
hours” to write a blog post for an upcoming book tour to sell the book or books
that they’ve already written.

It’s all a balancing act! As with every successful person
working at the career their love, you need to strike a balance between taking
care of business and doing the actual thing you love.

They do it because they have to, because book promotion is
all part of the job of being a writer.

Meet the Narrators:

Over the past several years Dan Lawson has appeared in numerous spots for radio, television and the internet. He has worked with All-State, Sprint PCS, Mountain Dew and many more. His unique ability to mimic existing characters and celebrities has landed him diverse voice match work ranging from Charlie Sheen to Morgan Freeman.

In 2008 Dan was cast as the first American voice actor for the Korean video game company, Nexon. Over the next several years Dan was the flagship voice of the company, appearing in such titles as Mabinogi, Maple Story, Vindictus, Dragon Nest, Dungeon Fighter Online and Atlantica. In total he has voiced nearly 100 characters for Nexon.

In late 2012 Dan’s voice over career took an unexpected turn into book narration. His first audition landed him the job of narrating The Psychology of Twilight, a psychological look at the wide-spread obsession of the Twilight saga created by Stephanie Meyer. Eighteen more audiobook narrations have followed and show no signs of slowing down.

C.J. McAllister is an Audible Approved Producer -- "Audible Approved producers are the best audiobook producers in the business." Only a small number are awarded this honor.

Another Audible Approved narrator, voice actor James Lewis has established a solid reputation in fiction as well as non-ficton audiobooks. At latest count, he's narrated nearly 50.

Although his specialty is noir fiction, James has done several non-fiction books as well on a range of people and subjects: Butch and Sundance, General Custer, Revolutionary War, psychic development, taxes.

James Lewis has been awarded the AudioFile Earphone Award for narration, "The Last Outlaws". It's about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

A broadcast veteran of over 30 years, Mike Alger is best known as the award-winning Chief Meteorologist for KTVN-TV in Reno, NV. He is also a successful author, having penned the Mystery-Thriller novel "Snow Storm," and is the narrator of the audiobook of the same name.

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Thank you so much for the glowing review of OLD LOVES DIE HARD and inviting me to talk about book promotion today. As always, it is a blast being here and I wish each one of your followers luck in the giveaway for the $100 Amazon gift card!